By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

SOME 200 “supply” teachers across the country have gone months without receiving their salaries, Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT) officials said yesterday.

The supply teachers are retirees who have mostly been re-engaged by the government because of shortages across the country, The Tribune was told.

According to one BUT official, about 160 such teachers were hired at the beginning of the most recent school term following an unusual number of teacher resignations.

Neither Education Minister Jerome Fitzgerald nor Education Director Lionel Sands could be reached for comment up to press time yesterday.

However, Joan Knowles Turnquest, the acting president of the BUT, confirmed the problem, saying: “What would happen if the supply teachers say they won’t teach any more on top of the shortages we already have?”

Ms Turnquest said it is not just supply teachers who have not received salaries. Union dues have not been taken from the salaries of teachers and paid to the union as well, she said.

“Staff and officers of the union have not been paid,” she said. “We have called the Prime Minister countless times. We have called Simon Wilson (the financial secretary) countless times. Either they are ignoring us or they feel they don’t have to worry about people who are not being paid. We want them to pay the late fee for every worker who has not been paid and cannot pay their mortgage and is encountering the fees the bank is putting on us.”

Regarding supply teachers, one source within the BUT said: “A lady just quit in Inagua because they sent her there, promised her rent but didn’t pay for it.

“It is very unusual because the supply teachers are paid from a budget the Director of Education has, not from the Ministry of Education. This is the worst I’ve seen it. Also, there are teachers in the Family Islands who are afraid to face their landlords because government hasn’t sent them money. The supply teachers hired in August haven’t received their money since August. They call us every day to complain and unfortunately we don’t have the right to bargain for them because they don’t pay dues as they’re retirees.”

The source said education officials have blamed the problem on the Treasury Department.

“Education people are, just like us, trying to figure out what’s happening with the Treasury. They’re telling us there’s some kind of a mix up. What’s problematic is how can it be a months long problem?”

One teacher told The Tribune yesterday that his wife, who is a supply teacher for a government school, has not been paid in the past three months. “It is putting a strain on the family,” the teacher, who did not want to be identified, said.

He said school officials have failed to reasonably respond to the issue. “This one blames this one, this one blames the next,” he said. “(Some say) it’s the principal’s responsibility to make arrangements. It’s scary to me being a teacher to think this may be a widespread problem in public schools.

“(I am) concerned about the children, a supply teacher at another school said she may have to leave, my wife has said she may have to leave but she loves the children. I don’t know what the government is doing, they are hurting people who are on the frontline - maybe they are saving money for carnival.”

In August, Mr Fitzgerald expressed concern over the “unexpected” applications for early retirement from more than 100 public school teachers this year.

He said 119 teachers applied for early retirement, which he said was a “big number” by the ministry’s standards.

He said at the time that the ministry would likely employ some 30 supply teachers to fill vacancies.